It was just over a year ago that the Garrett Company acquired the former Tysons Ford site for $26.5 million. The property, which sits next to the Tysons Bagel Market and a just a few hundred feet from Garrett’s other property at 8133 Leesburg Pike (yes the Olive Garden), is approximately 204,000 square feet. Most of the property was a parking lot for display of cars for sale, with only a small 1-story structure for the showroom and offices of the former car dealership. The new plan for the property, dubbed International Place, wraps together the two properties owned by Garrett, totaling 7.98 acres, as one redevelopment concept.
The new site will be a 600,000 square foot, 500 unit, multifamily mixed use development, which will include a restaurant per the application report. Garrett Company is also looking to include a grocery store in the redevelopment, although the recent news about Wegmans and Whole Foods already picking their locations in Tysons may change those plans. The six-story proposed building will fit in well with the surrounding mid-rise uses at Fairfax Square and 8133 Leesburg Pike.
The front face of the development, much like other rezonings around Tysons, has chosen to place its architectural entry along the Boone Boulevard side as opposed to Route 7. This is another indication of how unmarketable Route 7 itself is in its current design with regard to walkability, access, and aesthetics. Other projects like Greensboro Place, Tysons Central, and Dominion Square have also turned the back side of their buildings towards Route 7 focusing more on clustering their project around a central pedestrian corridor or smaller adjacent street.
Rendering Davis Carter Scott
International Place is concurrently being submitted with a Final Development Plan which may mean Garrett Company is looking to start quickly once approved. Because the project is much shorter than other projects going in around town, and can be done largely in timber as opposed to reinforced concrete, expect a shorter construction period. We’ll keep up with the rezoning to see when the project will head to the planning commission.
* A previous version of this story interpreted the Planning Commission docket for July incorrectly and noted that the International Place project was heading to the Planning Commission for approval. The approval attained at the Planning Commission was unrelated to the overall rezoning.